Question: Describe the biggest sale you ever lost. What happened and how did you react?

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Follow-up questions:

What did you learn from that experience?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Critical Thinking,Basic – Monitoring (Making observations of self and environment),Social – Social Perceptiveness

Other Factors:

Direct Job Experience,Personality-Job Fit

Work Activity (Task):

Mental Processes – Analyzing Data or Information,Mental Processes – Judging the Value of Things, Services, or People,Work Output – Quality Improvement

Work Context (Person-Job/Team/Org Fit):

Interpersonal Relationships – Deal With External Customers

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Adaptability/Flexibility,Analytical Thinking,Persistence/Perseverance

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

The candidate’s ability to deal with difficult and challenging situations.
The candidate’s professionalism.

Red Flags to Watch For:

The candidate’s inability to deal with difficult and challenging situations.
The candidate’s unprofessionalism.

Sample Answer:

Two years ago, I didn’t win a multi-million deal with a giant telecoms company. That was primarily because they were looking for a distinct feature that our product didn’t have at that time. That experience served as an eye opened for my company because we stepped up in order to be competitive.

Question Source: Unknown